Pigtrotters Daycare: Art Day

[Maude Stone]

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With a new school year coming up, New Zealand's eleven-year-old witches and wizards were scrambling for their wands and supplies, eagerly getting ready for the day they'd finally be able to take the Hogwarts Express across the island and head in to the castle not too far from Brightstone, to be sorted into their houses for the next seven years. It was the start to an important life journey and an exciting time, but one where younger siblings, or just younger magical children in general, were stuck looking on with envy at all the fun the older children were having, and all of the attention they were receiving. But no more! Not with the introduction of a group solely for the purpose of preparing these younger witches and wizards for their eventual turn at attending Hogwarts, a way for them to meet and build up social skills, and learn a few things along the way. It was a much needed head start for some of them, even if they weren't quite able to use magic just then.

Pigtrotters Daycare for Witchcraft and Wizardry, as the group had been temporarily branded, was starting its first proper meetup for the youth of New Zealand's magical community to be introduced to each other, and participate in an assortment of events across the year. The word had been spread for a while now, and advertised in the Daily Prophet with a time and date for the initial presentation. Maude, a witch with a child of her own not yet in Hogwarts, stood in Tākarokaro Park under a banner bearing the groups name, waiting for any families to arrive and hoping they would manage a large enough turnout. It was difficult to tell how successful it would be this early on. A corner of the park had been set up for the event with the help of a few volunteers, while not being too in the way of anyone else who simply wanted to enjoy the park. The Headmistress of Hogwarts had even been kind enough to send a house elf over to assist with the work. Blank easels were set up across the grass, ready for the morning's enchanted painting event, and a sign-up sheet was waiting on a nearby bench to keep track of the children joining.​

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Out of Character:

I was going to post this a while ago, but it never felt like a good time. But its finally here! This is a topic for magical children aged around 5-10 to join and get to RP with other young characters in. Hopefully this can build up some friendships prior to Hogwarts, as well as character development for Sorting. Feel free to post with any children not attending Hogwarts this year, and feel free to post as a helper! Preferably more children than helpers, though!

 

[Levi Forrest Jr.]

To travel to another country before they'd left the orphanage was a first for the children of St. Mary's, but ones that the guardians thought was an important step them to take before they moved off to start their lives at their new schools around the world. Levi hadn't heard too many details about what was happening, but he was excited nonetheless to be going on essentially a holiday, and one to the country that he would soon be living in too. With just under a year until he was sorted into his new house at Hogwarts, he was already excited to be able to start learning magic.

Of course, he didn't realise until he was stood underneath the banner for Pigtrotters Daycare, that he wouldn't actually be doing any magic so much as painting with the younger kids. He was used to spending time with children of a variety of ages, but he hoped that this meeting would let him find other students going to Hogwarts, so that he and Morwen wouldn't be the only pair on the outside. Today a small group of them had been accompanied by their guardian, who signed up their names for them as Levi found a place to sit on the grass, wondering if painting here was going to be different to painting at home.​

 

[Sophie Elliston]

Sophie had only been living with her cousins family for a few weeks now in order to prepare herself for Hogwarts in the upcoming year. It was quite daunting knowing that Sophie would enter a completely unknown world, despite knowing it for all of her life, to learn magic which many of her friends didn't even know existed. She wanted to feel as comfortable as possible before doing so in hopes that it wouldn't be too bad. Spencer had gone to Hogwarts for a new school year, along with all of the other students, which meant that in exactly a year's time she would be inside the big castle. It was quite lonely without him and her aunt thought it would be a great idea to take Sophie to 'Daycare' where she could meet other people attending Hogwarts next year.

As Sophie sat on the grass under the big sign waiting for people to arrive, she was a bit disgruntled at the fact that it was called a Daycare. Did wizards know that a Daycare was mainly for people under the ages of 6 and that, if it were the muggle world, Sophie would be much too old to attend? Nonetheless, other people her age seemed to be arriving, and so Sophie tried her best to not think of it as a Daycare anymore and simply a place where she could meet new people. She stared at the painting activity that was set up, very excited to get started on that when the time came.

 

[Lysander Summers]

As they'd gotten older, it had become a little more difficult for Lysander and his sister to continue spending too much time with the local muggle children, after a few too many minor, but unexplainable occurrences had happened around them. Magic could be unpredictable in children, whose emotions could at times go well over the top. and they were no different in that respect. A wizarding oriented daycare was exactly what they were in need of ever since then, a place they could freely talk about all of the magical things they wanted to without a care, and just be their true selves. Despite being raised in a magical community, they didn't always get a chance to go out and meet many of the other magical youths outside of relatives. The Frosts were too old now, and too invested in Quidditch and not enough else. They both at least had Spencer, their closest friend who they saw often, but it would have been fun to have even more kids to play games or hang out with. Gobstones matches with just Ellie and Spencer grew too predictable too quickly.

Arriving in Brightstone Village with his family via floo network, Lysander ran slightly ahead to get to the park, stopping every so often to make sure that his little rat friend riding atop his shoulder was still holding on just fine. He'd been to Takarokaro a few times in the past, and today it looked noticeably different with the setup for Pigtrotters dominating one of its corners. The reference to Hogwarts was immediately lost on the eight-year-old, who was too busy looking around at all the easels littering the grass to think about the thematic naming choice in any depth. Would they be painting today? He hoped so. It had been a while since he'd last drawn Nana anything, and the house-elf was about due one of his not-bad-but-not-really-good artworks. By the looks of it, a few other kids were already present, appearing to be a bit older than Sander himself was, but not by much. He greeted them with a friendly "Hi!" and a small wave of his hand. Hopefully, Spencer would be making an appearance too. It wouldn't be the same if he was missing out while he and Ellie were having all the fun.
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[Jasper Night]

Jasper Night did not need to be here. He wasn't a little kid, he was ten already. But apparently his father had heard something about a daycare and thought it was perfect for his nearly grown-up son. Jasper had been grumpy about it all morning, wishing he could have just stayed home. Sure, he was a little sad his older cousins had left to Hogwarts again and he still couldn't go, but that didn't mean he wanted to go sit around and be babied. His father had explained to him that this wasn't something just for small children, that it was something fun for him to do and a place where he could meet new kids, but Jasper was having none of it. Why would he need to meet new kids? He had Arkose. A cousin the same age as him was pretty much the same as an automatic friend, even if that cousin was sometimes reluctant to do anything Jasper wanted to do. He usually managed to drag him along anyway. It was fine.

After his dad signed him up and ruffled his hair. Jasper was left behind with the easels and other children. At least there weren't any babies. In fact, most of the kids there seemed to be around his age. With a slight frown, he looked around. It appeared that they were going to be doing something with paint. With a sigh, he plopped down onto the grass. "So... anyone else feel way too old for 'daycare'?" He asked, looking at a few of the older looking kids. "I'm nearly Hogwarts age. You know. Two of my cousins already go there." He nodded firmly as if that said something about him as well.

 

[Eleanora Summers]

Ellie rushed along behind Lysander as they made their way to the park. Normally she would be racing to see who was the fastest, but she had her puffskein with her today, and didn't want to make it sick. She was so excited to finally meet some other magical kids. Of course she missed her friends from her old daycare, but understood that she could never have really been her true self around them. None of them knew about quidditch, or real magical animals, or spells.

When they arrived at the park Ellie was a little disappointed to see the canvas, and paints. It was the same thing she could have been doing at muggle school. Still it wasn't long before she perked up, and went to go meet some of the other kids. Spencer would be here soon, and there was no way he was going to introduce himself to anyone without her forcing him. Ellie rolled her eyes at the first boy to speak up. So what if his cousins were at Hogwarts? He wasn't. But if their plans worked out she, and Lysander would be on that train to Hogwarts next September. Deciding to ignore him Ellie went up to the only other girl there so far, "Hi! My names Eleanora, but people call me Ellie. This is my puffskein, Pudding." She told the girl excitedly while holding up her pet for the girl to see.

 

[Spencer Havishmen]

Spencer clung to his mother's side as the pair walked towards the park together. He hadn't wanted to come here, but eventually with the promise that Eleanora, and Lysander would be there he had been coaxed into it. Spencer was shy, and didn't like to be around lots of other kids. A fun day for him was sitting in the back of his mother's shop playing with his puzzles, and books. When they arrived at the park entrance Spencer was a little dismayed to see that most of the children already there were older, and bigger than he was. At least the days activity was painting which he didn't mind. Spencer felt a gentle nudge from his mom, and not wanting to disappoint her he went off in the direction of the other children. As if he was attracted like a magnet Spencer immediately went to Lysander's side. He greeted him with a silent hug, and hoped they would start painting soon so he could focus on that.

 

[Gabriella Rosemary]

Gaby just didn't get it. She didn't get why her adoptive parents had told her, no forced her, to go to this daycare. As if she wasn't humiliated enough that she was an orphan, now this too. Gabriella wasn't little. No, in fact, she thought of herself as quite grown-up already, she didn't need to hang around toddlers. She was ten. She didn't need any of this. Unfortunately, her age disallowed her to make her own decisions and so as to make her so-called parents leave her alone about this whole thing she was in the car, on her way to the daycare. Apparently, it was magical too. Just one more problem to add in her life. Gaby hated complications.

When she finally muttered goodbye, her parents began to walk in the opposite direction, and she sighed in relief. Now she could find out, for herself, what this was all about and whether it was worth coming. When she entered a room full of children she was quickly surprised to discover that she wasn't, in fact, the only 'older' kid. There were children who looked around her age. This didn't exactly comfort her, though. The girl sighed quietly under her breath but went to the others. "Hi. I'm Gabriella, it's...good to meet you guys," she said a little tentatively before simply listening to the conversation she might have interrupted. ​

 

[Hattie Thorne]

Hattie couldn't believe how fast she was growing up. It felt like yesterday that she first met Jeremy and started living with him, and now she was almost at Hogwarts in a couple of years, feeling very much happier than what she did a few years ago living in the orphanage. When Hattie saw the advertisement of the new Daycare she was quick in asking her father to let her go. It wasn't everyday that Hattie had the opportunity to meet people her own age that she would soon be going to school with, and so she couldn't help but be excited for it. She arrived with a smile on her face and Mr and Mrs Donkey under each arm, following all of the other children to the spot under the big sign. She sat down on the grass, placing Mr and Mrs Donkey on her lap and beamed at all of the other faces, some of which seemed to already be starting conversation. Hoping they would let her join in, Hattie spoke up. "Hello!" she exclaimed, smiling up at them all.

 

[Thomas Parish]

Thomas didn't miss an event in Brightstone, no matter how big or small. Having haunted the location for the past however many decades now, there was only so much left for him to do, and any new occurrence was more than welcome to break him out of the monotony of daily life death. The splinched spectre was quick to check out the small canopy erected in the park, and the easels set up around the grass. As someone who had never technically finished his education, and who was robbed of any chance of attending Hogwarts, Tom was excited by the idea of a mini-school, even if the target demographic were a lot younger than he was. His offer to help out with the day stemmed from a selfish desire to make up for what he was missing in his existence, and was met with initial skepticism. After all, he couldn't physically interact, but when the lovely woman running the show decided his status as a being could be a learning experience for the children, he was allowed to stick around. Not that there was much she could have done to be rid of him. The teenaged ghost sat cross-legged a few inches above the grass, grinning at the other students being signed up for the day. This was going to be a lot of fun, and he was a bit envious of the fact that he wouldn't be able to have a go at painting on one of the easels for himself.​

 

[Quentin Burdock]

It was strange for Quentin to think that ever since the day he'd accidentally set his mothers skirt on fire just by staring at it from a distance, that his parents had been treating him a little differently. Today was no different as he found himself sat on a field in Brightstone, surrounded by a number of other kids close to his age as they waited to do something special with some paint. He didn't really know why it was important but his mom had told him that getting to know these people today would be a good thing when it came to big school, although glancing around he didn't really see anyone that he thought would be very fun to talk to. Dressed head to know in his favourite pirate costume, Quentin had remained quiet as others had joined the group, although his eyes were suddenly fixed as he caught sight of a person, except he wasn't really a person. He was see through. He had heard ghost stories but he didn't think they would actually be real. Frozen on the spot and wondering if anyone else could see the thing, boy, floating above the ground close to them, Quentin didn't dare look away in case it tried to creep up on him. ​

 

[Maude Stone]

It was pleasing to see quite a few children attending, even if not all of them looked too much as if they wanted to be there. That would change, once they started seeing how much fun they were going to be having over the year. Maude greeted parents with a warm smile, and once it seemed like time, she turned to greet the young children. "Good morning! Welcome to Pigtrotters. I hope you're all excited to be here! This is our first meeting, of many more to come. Try not to think of it too much like "daycare"." She said, looking at the one particular boy who had complained with a reassuring smile. "Think of it more as a place to come meet other children before you embark on your journey to Hogwarts, a place to have fun and learn a few things on the way that may help you all to be the best witches and wizards in school. I know not everyone has a chance to get to know others your own age until you get sorted, unless you're lucky enough to live in Brightstone, or near Obsidian Harbor. If you live in a muggle town, it can be hard to have to hide who you really are all the time, isn't it? You're free to talk about and do all sorts of magical things here, so just try to enjoy yourselves and make some friends, okay? Ok!" The woman clapped her hands together to make sure she had all of their attention, and got started by introducing the others helping her, including the friendly house elf from Hogwarts and Thomas the ghost. "If you have any questions for anyone, don't hesitate to ask. Over this year, and following years if you continue to attend, there will be a lot of fun things to do. You'll get to grow some magical plants and help with making some potions to try out with all sorts of different effects to choose from, as well as a trip to see how all of the sweets from Honeydukes are made! We also have a trip to a magizoo to see some magical creatures coming up, so you might even get to see a dragon. If you guys are you for it, we can have a few games of Shuntbumps to get you all used to flying on brooms, even if they aren't like the ones you'll be using at Hogwarts. If you're lucky and your parents sign a permission slip, there's a Moutohora Macaws match at the end of the year we might be able to go and spectate." Maude was excited, and just hoped the kids would be too. There was a lot to do, a lot they might not have normally been able to do otherwise. "But for today, you'll mostly be getting to know each other. Blood prejudices won't be tolerated here, so be nice. It doesn't matter if you're pureblood or not. I'm sure you've all seen the easels on the grass? Today will also include a painting activity. We have all sorts of paints to use, including colour-changing, and the help of a charm to animate your pictures once you're done! If anyone here has any portraits at home they can talk to, it won't quite be the same, but it's still close enough! You're all free to paint whatever you feel like, and you can take them home at the end of the day. Any questions? If not, feel free to get to know each other, or start painting!"​

Out of Character:

If you have a child you still want to add, or anyone else you think is appropriate, it's not too late to do so! You're welcome to throw them in at any time.

 

[Sophie Elliston]

Sophie watched as she sat on the grass and more and more people arrived. There were definitely a lot more people than what Sophie expected, and she was happy to see people there that were her age and that she could hopefully get to know. She watched as a girl had walked over to her with a small creature and Sophie's eyes widened at it. "A puff... what?" she said, wondering if maybe she had found it on the way there. The girl had not been introduced to any magical creatures yet, but she was interested in what the creature was for, why it didn't exist in the muggle world, and where exactly it originated from. She had lots of learn about the magical world, and when she spotted a ghost not too far from where she was sitting, she stared at it, wondering if it was really a ghost or if someone had enchanted themselves to look so transparent.

As the lady began to speak to the children, Sophie tried to listen as she began her long speech. She listened when 'muggle town' was mentioned, wondering if there were any other muggle-borns there. But Sophie thought that was unlikely. After all, most muggle-borns didn't know they were magical until they received their Hogwarts letter. When it was time to start painting, Sophie beamed and was one of the first to make her way over to an easel. It looked similar to a muggle easel and so she didn't think it would be that hard. At first she wondered whether or not she should paint one of her characters, but thought against it as she came up with another idea. Turning to Ellie, Sophie spoke. "Hey, do you mind if I draw it?" she asked, gesturing to her pet. "I'm Sophie by the way."

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper sighed as no one really reacted to him, maybe they were all just jealous he had cousins at Hogwarts. A few more kids arrived, and Jasper watched with a bored expression as they trickled in. A few seemed close to his age, but a few were definitely younger as well. But then his eye was caught by something else. Something that made his jaw drop open. A ghost was here, just sitting and floating as if he belonged here. Without pausing to think, Jasper wandered over. As he did, he heard the lady talk to the kids, vaguely picking up a few things she said though he didn't pay too much attention. "Are you a real ghost?" he asked the floating boy. Then he promptly put his hand through his chest. "Do you feel this?" He asked, his eyes wide with curiosity. "Wow, that's COLD!" He exclaimed, delighted. He vaguely heard the lady say something about flying on brooms and dragons, which made his attention wander back to her for a moment before focusing on the ghost again. He pulled his hand back. "So uh, how did you die?" He asked, not stopping to think that maybe this was personal information. He noticed they were now allowed to start painting, but he really didn't feel like it yet. He had a ghost friend to make now. Rory would be so impressed if he befriended a ghost.

 

[Lysander Summers]

It was exciting to see so many other kids who weren't old enough to go to Hogwarts just yet, as well as another house-elf, much like Nana. It was a new experience, getting to see more of them, and Sander noticed the Hogwarts crest on its towel toga. Was it from the castle? His dads had told him plenty of times about how lots of elves cooked food for the students and kept the school tidy, but he'd never really got to see any others for himself up so close. This one was uglier, he decided. Nana was definitely the prettier of the two, though he may have been just a little bit biased. A surprise hug distracted Sander from scrutinizing the elf any further, and when he really who it was, he embraced his best friend more enthusiastically. "Spence! You made it!" He said, happy that it wasn't going to just be him and Ellie with all these new people. Having the other boy there made the whole situation a lot more comfortable. He took a seat on the grass, and patted the spot next to him for Spencer to take a seat too, noticing now for the first time that a ghost was a part of their daycare group. "Psst, Spencer. Look!" He whispered, pointing out the transparent older guy in case his friend hadn't seen him. They didn't come across a ghost every day! It was another thing Hogwarts apparently had a few of, according to his dads. One for each house. It was possible that this ghost was from there, too, just like the house elf. Sander bet he was the Gryffindor ghost. All of the cuts and scratches on him made it look like he'd gotten up to lots of adventures before he died.

There was little time to talk more as the lady running the daycare spoke to all of them. Sander wondered if she were a professor, just like his dad. Surely she had to be if she was teaching them things. Magical plants and potions didn't sound too exciting. He and Ellie got to watch and help out Auntie Dallas in the Apothecary, so that was a regular thing for them. The Magizoo was a lot more exciting, like his dads Menagerie, but ten times better! Sander hoped they'd get to see some dragons, or a phoenix. Shuntbumps sounded like a great idea too, considering they had enough people to play, and the boy silently pumped his fist at the mention of it, careful not to dislodge his rat companion. Pigtrotters was going to be fun, even if some people were complaining about it. What else did they have to do that day that was better than magical painting? Eventually Sander got back up to his feet after the lady finished speaking. Helping up Spencer with him, and he turned to talk to his friend. "What d'you wanna paint first?"

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[Thomas Parish]

Tom had caught a lot more attention from the kids than he'd anticipated, and it was difficult to ignore some of the points and stares. Not that he minded too much, returning them with a pearly, semi-transparent grin. He enjoyed the attention he was getting, which he didn't receive on a regular day. A lot of the local wizards and witches were older and used to him haunting the place for the past few decades, so by now most looked right through him rather than at him. A few were even oblivious enough to walk through him from time to time, earning them a sudden icy chill. The ghost had never known the experience himself, but the description he'd been told sounded extremely unpleasant, so he figured he wasn't missing out on much.

Noticing one of the children boldly head straight toward him, Tom greeted him with an upwards nod, and chuckled at his comment. A real ghost, as opposed to a fake one? Last he checked, he wasn't wearing a bedsheet with eyeholes cut out, so he thought he was pretty real, if dead. The teenager barely managed a word out before he suddenly had an arm through his chest, and he resisted the urge to do the same to the kid. He couldn't blame him for being curious, and it wasn't causing him any real grief. "Nope, nothin'. Not even a tickle." He said, looking at the small hand just casually sticking into him. Seemed he figured out pretty quickly for himself just how cold it felt to touch a ghost. When the hand retracted, Tom patted his chest and looked back up at the boy, who appeared to be just brimming with questions. "A giant bird got me. Swooped down from the sky and ate me like a pumpkin pasty. It was crazy." He said with as much seriousness as he could muster for a total lie. He'd been told about giant birds in New Zealand's history back when he was alive, big enough to take a grown man. Poukai, he thought they were called. It was certainly a cooler story than his own stupid mistake which had led to him kicking the bucket way earlier than he would have liked.​

 

[Jasper Night]

It hadn't occurred to Jasper that sticking his hand through someone's chest, even if that someone was a ghost, was perhaps a bit rude. Not until it was too late, at least. But thankfully, the ghost seemed to be perfectly fine with it. That cemented this ghost as a very cool person in Jasper's mind, and possibly a friend. Imagine if he could tell the kids at Hogwarts next year that he had a ghost friend! He would surely be the coolest kid in his entire year. "Wow." He said, glancing at his hand. "So it doesn't feel warm to you? Could have been the opposite of what I feel. But I guess not." He then listened in astonishment as the boy explained how he had died. He didn't question the story for a second. Jasper's mouth dropped open, his eyes growing huge. "WOW. Really?!" He asked, though he didn't wait for an answer before barreling on. "Did it have teeth? Do you think that could happen again? Maybe to me?" He looked up at the sky, seeming more hopeful than scared at the prospect. "I've never seen a giant bird." He stared up at the sky for a moment, before snapping back to himself and looking back at the ghost. "Wait. I think I'm supposed to be painting." He said, glancing over his shoulder. Then an idea struck him. "Wait! I'll paint you!" He practically shouted before grinning. "Has anyone ever painted you before?!" Jasper felt like an absolute genius for this, and hoped he was the first one to think of it.